STRATEC SE

Earnings Release • Mar 5, 2009

News Details

Ad-hoc | 5 March 2009 21:55

STRATEC presents preliminary figures for 2008 financial year

STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG / Final Results/Preliminary Results

Release of an Ad hoc announcement according to § 15 WpHG, transmitted by
DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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STRATEC presents preliminary figures for 2008 financial year

Birkenfeld, March 5, 2009

STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG (FSE: SBS; Prime Standard Segment) hereby
announces the preliminary unaudited consolidated figures of the STRATEC
Group for the 2008 financial year pursuant to IFRS (International Financial
Reporting Standards) and in accordance with Section 15 of the German
Securities Trading Act (WpHG).

Key Figures (EUR 000s) 2008 2007 Change
Sales 60,971 67,527 - 9.7%
Gross performance 67,646 69,679 - 2.9%
EBITDA 13,510 16,586 - 18.5%
EBIT 11,225 14,316 - 21.6%
EBT * 9,387 * 14,517 - 35.3%
Consolidated net income * 6,131 * 9,991 - 38.6%
Earnings per share (EUR) * 0.54 * 0.88 - 38.6%

* includes one-off non-operating expense of around Euro 2.1 million due to
a fair value adjustment. Adjusted to exclude this item, 'Earnings per
share' would amount to Euro 0.72, 'Consolidated net income' to Euro 8.2
million and 'EBT' (Earnings before taxes) to Euro 11.5 million.

Including temporary employees, the STRATEC Group had a total of 284
employees as of December 31, 2008 (previous year: 270).

The calculation of the key 'earnings per share' figure for the 2008
financial year is based on a weighted number of shares amounting to
11,387,716.

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Information and Explaination of the Issuer to this News:

STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG achieved its forecasted targets for the 2008
financial year, namely sales of Euro 60.0 million and forecasted earnings
of Euro 11.5 million - following adjustment for a one-off non-operating
item due to the adjustment now necessary in the valuation of the
shareholding held in CyBio by around Euro 2.1 million.

STRATEC's customers have planned four market launches of new analyzer
systems for the 2009 and 2010 financial years. These will take place at
different dates depending on the region and approval requirements involved.
The systems are currently in highly advanced, labor-intensive stages of
development. To do justice to these requirements and to be able to closely
accompany other customers' plans for a potential market entry into the
field of molecular diagnostics, the STRATEC Group further increased the
number of its employees in the 2008 financial year.

The decline in sales by around 9.7% was due to the absence of system
call-ups by one major customer, a factor which could only be offset to a
limited extent by other customer orders. It should be noted in this respect
that, due to sales growth with other customers, the company has further
reduced its dependence on individual customers. Potential fluctuations in
individual system sales can therefore be expected to have a less marked
impact on STRATEC's overall figures.

Given its high equity ratio of around 71%, its high stock of liquidity and
the fact that its balance sheet is free of net debt, STRATEC is ideally
positioned to safeguard the phase of rapid growth expected in the next two
years, as well as to exploit potential opportunities for external growth.

The current financial and economic crisis has not had any negative impact
on new orders at STRATEC or on the call-up forecasts submitted by the
company's partners.

STRATEC's business performance is rather characterized by micro-cycles.
These are reflected on the one hand by the relative performance of
individual partners and customers and on the other hand by the market
launch of new analyzer systems or launch of marketing activities for our
products by our customers. Due to the launch of marketing activities for
further products, this latter factor will have a clearly beneficial impact
on STRATEC within the next two years.

Irrespective of this, the global volume of blood donations, blood samples
taken in preparation for operations, and tests to detect pathogens is on
the increase. As a result, the demand for economical ways of evaluating
these samples, and thus also for fully automated analyzer systems, is also
growing constantly.

An updated guidance for the 2009 financial year is expected to be published
upon the announcement of the definitive figures for the 2008 financial
year. We expect to enter a phase of substantial growth in the coming two
years and should be able to quantify this in greater detail upon the
announcement of these figures.

Notes concerning the adjustment in the valuation of the shareholding held
in CyBio:

STRATEC held a 13.42% stake in CyBio AG as of December 31, 2008. Taken
together with the posting of a Supervisory Board member, an overall
assessment of the circumstances substantiated the assumption of the
existence of significant influence pursuant to IAS 28.2 in conjunction with
IAS 28.7 as of the reporting date on December 31, 2008.

On February 20, 2009, Analytik Jena AG published a voluntary public
takeover bid addressed to the shareholders in CyBio AG offering to acquire
their shares in CyBio AG and subsequently gained control over CyBio AG on
February 23, 2009. This circumstance has refuted the assumption referred to
above and will be accounted for in the overall assessment upon the
preparation of the consolidated financial statements as of December 31,
2008 (subsequent event of retrospective relevance as of reporting date).
This non-operating adjustment has reduced the net financial result for the
2008 financial year by around Euro 2.1 million.

The refutation of the assumption of significant influence has not led to
the measurement of the CyBio shareholding being converted to the equity
method (updated cost) in STRATEC'S consolidated financial statements.

The shares in CyBio AG are rather measured at fair value as of the
reporting date in accordance with the 'assets available for sale'
measurement category set out in IAS 39. As CyBio AG is publicly listed, the
fair value is equivalent to the market value as of December 31, 2008.

In this respect, the difference in value only has to be recognized through
profit or loss pursuant to IAS 39.68 to the extent that the significant,
ongoing shortfall in the share price in the 2008 financial year compared
with the costs of acquisition is deemed to represent a permanent reduction
in value.

About STRATEC

STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG (http://www.stratec-biomedical.de) designs
and manufactures fully automated analyzer systems for its partners in the
fields of clinical diagnostics and biotechnology. These partners market
such systems, in general together with their own reagents, to laboratories,
blood banks and research institutes around the world. The company develops
its products on the basis of its own patented technologies. Shares in the
company (ISIN: DE0007289001) are traded in the Prime Standard segment of
the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

The STRATEC Group consists of the publicly listed parent company STRATEC
Biomedical Systems AG and of subsidiaries and second-tier subsidiaries in
Germany, the USA, the UK, Switzerland and Romania.

Further information can be obtained from:

STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG
André Loy, Investor Relations
Gewerbestr. 37, 75217 Birkenfeld
Germany
Phone: +49 7082 7916 190
Fax: +49 7082 7916 999
Email: ir@stratec-biomedical.de
05.03.2009 Financial News transmitted by DGAP

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Language: English
Issuer: STRATEC Biomedical Systems AG
Gewerbestraße 37
75217 Birkenfeld
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)7082 7916 0
Fax: +49 (0)7082 7916 999
E-mail: info@stratec-biomedical.de
Internet: www.stratec-biomedical.de
ISIN: DE0007289001
WKN: 728900
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr
in Stuttgart, München, Düsseldorf

End of News DGAP News-Service

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